Section 321J.13. Hearing on revocation — appeal.

  1.  Notice of revocation of a person’s noncommercial driver’s license or operating privilege served pursuant to section 321J.9 or 321J.12 shall include a form accompanied by a preaddressed envelope on which the person served may indicate by a checkmark if the person only wishes to request a temporary restricted license after the mandatory ineligibility period for issuance of a temporary restricted license has ended, or if the person wishes a hearing to contest the revocation. The form shall clearly state on its face that the form must be completed and returned within ten days of receipt or the person’s right to a hearing to contest the revocation is foreclosed. The form shall also be accompanied by a statement of the operation of and the person’s rights under this chapter.

  2.  The department shall grant the person an opportunity to be heard within forty-five days of receipt of a request for a hearing if the request is made not later than ten days after receipt of notice of revocation served pursuant to section 321J.9 or 321J.12. The hearing shall be before the department in the county where the alleged events occurred, unless the director and the person agree that the hearing may be held in some other county, or the hearing may be held by telephone conference at the discretion of the agency conducting the hearing. The hearing may be recorded and its scope shall be limited to the issues of whether a peace officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 321J.2 or 321J.2A and one or more of the following:

  a.  Whether the person refused to submit to the test or tests.

  b.  Whether a test was administered and the test results indicated an alcohol concentration equal to or in excess of the level prohibited under section 321J.2 or 321J.2A.

  c.  Whether a test was administered and the test results indicated the presence of alcohol, a controlled substance or other drug, or a combination of alcohol and another drug, in violation of section 321J.2.

  3.  After the hearing the department shall order that the revocation be either rescinded or sustained. Upon receipt of the decision of the department to sustain a revocation, the person contesting the revocation has ten days to file a request for review of the decision by the director. The director or the director’s designee shall review the decision within thirty days and shall either rescind or sustain the revocation or order a new hearing. If the director orders a new hearing, the department shall grant the person a new hearing within twenty days of the director’s order.

  4.  The department shall stay the revocation of a person’s driver’s license or operating privilege for the period that the person is contesting the revocation under this section or section 321J.14 if it is shown to the satisfaction of the department that the new evidence is material and that there were valid reasons for failure to present it in the contested case proceeding before the department. However, a stay shall not be granted for violations of section 321J.2A.

  5.  If the department fails to comply with the time limitations of this section regarding granting a hearing, review by the director or the director’s designee, or granting a new hearing, and if the request for a hearing or review by the director was properly made under this section, the revocation of the driver’s license or operating privilege of the person who made the request for a hearing or review shall be rescinded. This subsection shall not apply in those cases in which a continuance to the hearing has been granted at the request of either the person who requested the hearing or the peace officer who requested or administered the chemical test.

  6.  a.  The department shall grant a request for a hearing to rescind the revocation if the person whose motor vehicle license or operating privilege has been or is being revoked under section 321J.9 or 321J.12 submits a petition containing information relating to the discovery of new evidence that provides grounds for rescission of the revocation.

  b.  The person shall prevail at the hearing if, in the criminal action on the charge of violation of section 321J.2 or 321J.2A resulting from the same circumstances that resulted in the administrative revocation being challenged, the court held one of the following:

  (1)  That the peace officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of section 321J.2 or 321J.2A had occurred to support a request for or to administer a chemical test.

  (2)  That the chemical test was otherwise inadmissible or invalid.

  c.  Such a holding by the court in the criminal action is binding on the department, and the department shall rescind the revocation. If the offense for which the revocation was imposed was committed while the person was operating a noncommercial motor vehicle and holding a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit and the department disqualified the person from operating a commercial motor vehicle under section 321.208, subsection 2, paragraph “a” or “b”, as a result of the revocation, the department shall also rescind the disqualification.

86 Acts, ch 1220, §13

; 87 Acts, ch 148, §1

; 88 Acts, ch 1109, §23

; 88 Acts, ch 1214, §2

; 89 Acts, ch 83, §46

; 95 Acts, ch 48, §18

; 97 Acts, ch 104, §30, 31

; 98 Acts, ch 1073, §9

; 98 Acts, ch 1138, §21

; 99 Acts, ch 13, §22, 29

; 2000 Acts, ch 1133, §16

; 2009 Acts, ch 130, §15, 18

; 2015 Acts, ch 123, §72

Subsection 6, paragraph c amended